[Resolved]  ICICIcredit Card — FALSE INVESTIGATIONS & HARASSMENT BY RECOVERY AGENTS

December 2007

I lost my credit card on 20th September 2007 and three fraudulent transactions amounting to INR 11421/- took place. I informed the bank that I do not stand liable as the credit card had my photo on it, the transaction slips did not have my signatures, and it is primarily the liability of the merchant, or at best the bank, as they fail to ensure that the photo is validated. I raised the dispute putting forwards these issues and expected a coherent answer from the bank for the same.

I initiated the formalities at my end by lodging a police complaint, faxing across the police complaint, and a dispute letter to ICICI Bank (complaint no. SR[protected]. The handling of the procedure right from the start was at best pathetic on the part of the bank as it took me several efforts to get precise information about the logistics of the formalities from the ICICI customer care and to put across the complaint letter across ICICI. Eventually ICICI’s investigating officer (Mr. Govind Singh) also collected the copy of the documents from my residence. Later, he also asked me to fill up a form and post it across Mumbai, which I did.

The bank eventually resolved the dispute in the bank’s favor and asked me to pay up the fraudulent amount without any regards to the issues I had raised in the dispute, as specified above.

My repeated attempts to request ICICI Customer Care (through ICICI netbanking account) to hear my plea, as they did not responded to the issues I raised, turned futile. As advised further by the ICICI Customer Care, I even sent across a hard copy to raise a dispute to get my concerns appropriately addressed. I did not get the response and only after repeated emails, I started receiving insensitive replies that I need to pay up. Moreover each time there was a new official corresponding who never took the pains to go through the entire communication and just replied that I need to pay up. I repetitively insisted that if they had any queries then they should call me up and I’ll be happy to address any issues, but it was of no use.
After this they (ICICI Customer Care) emailed across their investigational report. I was outraged and horrified on going through their investigational report. The report comprised of consistent lies that the investigating team tried to contact me on phone and I did not responded well. The only time they called me up was when they asked me about the number and the value of fraudulent transactions made while I was in a meeting at office. In reply I requested them to please check out the communication and the dispute I’d raised and then get back to me.
Moreover, the team asked questions and answered them themselves. For example, the report raised a question as to why did I delayed registering the complaint although I received the SMS on my mobile around 30 min before. In conclusion, they seem to doubt my intentions without even asking the question to me. (In fact, the real reason was that I was driving towards home (Delhi) from office (Gurgaon) and I saw the SMS on reaching home). They also indicated that my relative may be involved and that the photo was not clear.

It turns out that the ICICI investigation team is involved in a cover-up process by generating a farce report. The report is totally absurd without any proofs and any coherent process being followed. Moreover the whole process at ICICI is insensitive, clueless, and irresponsible in its approach.

I intend to only pay for the amount liable to me and not for the fraudulent transactions. Moreover, I am hassled, stressed, and outraged by ICICI’s approach towards their customers. I now intend to take-up this issue to ensure that this does not get repeated with any one else and the bank acts more responsibly to ensure a safety mechanism to prevent misuse of the credit cards.


February 2008

ICICI continues to harass me on the phone and had sent a recovery agent at my home today. I am totally hassled and am seeking a way to put message straight across to ICICI.